Submission of proposals
Download 1.78 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- A02-031 TITLE
- A02-032 TITLE
- A02-033 TITLE
- A02-034 TITLE
- A02-035 TITLE
A02-030 TITLE: Developing New Predictors of Stress Resilience for the Objective Force TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Training and Doctrine Command OBJECTIVE: This research will develop and validate new measures of stress resilience that predict soldier performance in combat situations. Potential applications include selection, assessment, and training and development. DESCRIPTION: The recent attack on the United States underscores the importance of military readiness and hastens the Army’s goal of developing the Objective Force to meet new demands. Conventional methods of waging war are becoming obsolete as the world changes and as new threats come to the forefront. As the means of engagement evolve, the characteristics that distinguish effective soldiers also evolve. Soldiers in the Objective Force must adapt quickly to new adversaries, environments, technologies, and modes of conflict. The dynamic nature of Objective Force operations places additional pressure on soldiers; change itself is stressful for many individuals. Soldiers need to be adaptive to change, resilient to external pressures, and able to perform effectively amidst stressful conditions in order to achieve the tactical, operational, and strategic objectives of the Army. Empirical research clearly documents the adverse effects of stress, which include performance deficits, illness, absenteeism, and turnover (Tett, Meyer, & Roese, 1994). However, there are individual differences in responses to stressful stimuli (National Institute of Mental Health, 1996). Studies indicate that individual characteristics often influence individuals’ ability to perform under stress and to avoid the negative consequences of stress. Similar results have been found in military settings as well (Bartone, 2000; Balson, Howard, Manning & Mathison, 1986). Findings such as these prompted researchers tasked by the Manpower and Personnel Research Division to recommend the development of measures that predict individuals’ resilience to stress in order to improve selection and classification for stressful military jobs (Heslegrave & Colvin, 1998). This project will focus on producing tests of resilience for the purpose of selection and assessment of combat soldiers. A major benefit of tests of resilience is that they allow users to select in candidates that are most likely to succeed in stressful occupations, whereas tests of susceptibility are useful for selecting out those that are likely to fail. Also, this study will employ innovative approaches to stress conceptualization and measurement, such as the use of physiological indicators. PHASE I: Propose a model of the impact of stress on performance in combat-related jobs and similarly stressful jobs outside of the military. Define the concept of resilience, including the individual characteristics (i.e., cognitive, personality, physical, and background) that are associated with resistance to stress, and how they mitigate the effects of stress. Based on the model, develop a taxonomy of resilience constructs to be investigated and identify potential measures of the constructs. PHASE II: Develop a research plan for testing resilience to stress and provide a rationale for the given approach. Specify the methodology that will be used to evaluate the validity of the resilience measures and the sample population that will be tested. Determine whether job analyses need to be conducted or whether sufficient job information is available for the population. Describe the relevant aspects of the job and how performance will be measured. Conduct pilot tests to refine instruments and finalize administration procedures. Execute testing program, collect performance data, and examine the validity of the resilience instruments by comparing performance on the tests to performance on the job. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This technology would be useful for selection and assessment in other stressful, non-military jobs, particularly those in which successful performance is critical. For example, tests of stress resilience could be used to select emergency workers, including police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. The aviation industry is another potential application; these instruments could be used to evaluate pilots, sky marshals, and airport security personnel for performance effectiveness under pressure. REFERENCES: 1) Balson, P. M., Howard, N. S., Manning, D. T., & Mathison, J. (1986). The psychophysiologic study of stress in military populations. Military Medicine, 151, 144-153. 2) Bartone, P. T. (2000). Hardiness as a resiliency factor for United States forces in the Gulf War. In J. M. Violanti, D. Paton et al. (Eds.), Posttraumatic stress interventions: Challenges, issues and perspectives (pp. 115-133). Springfield, IL: Charles S. Thomas. 3) Heslegrave, R. J. & Colvin, C. (1998). Selection of personnel for stressful operations: The potential utility of psychophysiological measures as selection tools. Human Performance in Extreme Environments, 3, 121-139. 4) National Institute of Mental Health (1996). Basic behavioral science research for mental health: Vulnerability and resilience. American Psychologist, 51, 22-28. 5) Tett, R. P., Meyer, J. P., & Roese, N. J. (1994). Applications of meta-analysis: 1987-1992. In C. L. Cooper & I. T. Robertson (Eds.) International review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 71-112). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. KEYWORDS: Selection, Stress, Resilience, Adaptation, Objective Force, Combat A02-031 TITLE: Research in Intrusion Detection Systems for Insider Attacks TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, DoD High Performance Computing Modernization OBJECTIVE: The objective is to conduct research into Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) to address the insider threat within an enterprise system. DESCRIPTION: Military information systems and communication technologies are used as force multipliers. Systems reliability, availability, and data integrity are critical readiness elements. There has been an emphasis in research and development of network based intrusion detection systems, which focus on the monitoring, detecting, and analysis of data traffic into and out of enterprise systems, but little work has focused on the problem of the insider threat. How does the enterprise monitor, detect, analyze and respond to both malicious and unintended aberrant behavior by those within the borders of the firewall or IDS sensor boundaries? An enterprise level intrusion detection system focused on user-computer system interaction system-system interaction, and data interactions within the system is needed to supplement network intrusion detection systems currently deployed within the DoD and commercial environments. The problem is difficult and is further complicated as some of this traffic may be encrypted. Target and attacker profiling, and data fusion between network and host intrusion detection systems, are of interest. PHASE I: Investigate current insider threat techniques/tools/methodologies to identify promising methods, e.g., signature, user anomaly, system anomaly, etc., that can rapidly extract and classify small signals from massive quantities of data. Data may be user or systems generated. Develop a systems design that includes sensor specifications, techniques for feature extraction and classification, AI/data mining if applicable, and operation. PHASE II: Develop and demonstrate a prototype system in a realistic environment. Conduct testing to prove feasibility over extended operating conditions. PHASE III: Using the information and experience developed in Phases I and II, refine and extend the research criteria so the program leads to deployable products. The product could be used in a broad range of military and civilian computer security applications where monitoring, detection, analysis and response are necessary -- for example, in military commands, organizations, etc., or in enhancing security in the banking/financial industry. REFERENCES: 1) R. L. Grossman, C. Kamath, P. Kegelmeyer, V. Kumar, and R. Namburu (Eds.) Data Mining for Scientific and Engineering Applications, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 2001. 2) R. Agarwal and V. Joshi Mahesh. "Pnrule: A New Framework for Learning Classifier Models in Data Mining (A Case Study in Network Intrusion Detection)", Technical Report TR 00-015, Department of Computer Science, University of Minnesota, 2000. 3) Mukkamala, R., J. Gagnon, and S. Jajodia. 2000. Integrting data mining techniques with intrusion detection methods. In Research Advances in Database and Infomration Systems Security, Vijay Atluri and John Hale, editors, Kluwer Publishers, Boston, MA 33-46. 4) State of the Practice of Intrusion Detection Technologies, downloaded from http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/99.reports/99tr028/ 99tr028chap02.html 5) State of the Practice of Intrusion Detection Technologies, downloaded from http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/99.reports/99tr028/ 99tr028chap03.html KEYWORDS: Security, detection, anomalous behavior, computer attacks, hacking, data mining, artificial intelligence, data integrity, and authentication. A02-032 TITLE: Joining Metals and Ceramics that Exhibit a Large Mismatch in Coefficient of Thermal Expansion TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Ballistic Protection for FCS OBJECTIVE: Joining high performance armor ceramics to low density metals where the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is large (typical difference in excess of 5.0 x 10-6/K). Solution should be a cost effective, scalable process able to join large plates of ceramic to metal (4"x4" minimum). An example system is silicon carbide (SiC) joined to titanium or an alloy such as Ti-6Al-4V. The final product must exhibit a substantial improvement in bond strength (shear and bending) over epoxy joining and be suitable for both production and field repair. DESCRIPTION: Advanced ceramics (such as SiC) are candidate materials for lightweight armor applications because of their high hardness and compressive strength. However, these materials must be used in conjunction with metals as a package (encapsulation or lamination) because of their inherent brittle nature. For most armor applications a strong bond, throughout the substrate surfaces, is desirable for transferring load. Current options for joining (attaching) ceramics to metals are limited because of the extreme differences in material properties such as melting point, chemical reactivity, and CTE. The most common option used today is adhesive or epoxy joining. This method is performed near room temperature, done in air, and adheres to most materials when the proper epoxy is chosen. The drawbacks to epoxy joining are low strength, weak bonding, and low elastic modulus that directly relates to a substantial mismatch in elastic impedance between the two materials. Active joining has addressed many of the issues involving differences in material properties by incorporating an active element (such as titanium) to chemically react or bond with most ceramics and metals. However, active brazes usage is limited where large sample sizes and large CTE mismatches are involved. The relatively high joining temperatures (> 700ºC) achieved during active brazing can cause catastrophic strains (stresses) during cooling. Future military applications for this technology include the production of armor packages, incorporating dissimilar materials, for both aircraft and ground vehicles. PHASE I: Demonstrate joining a ceramic (SiC) to a metal (titanium alloy: Ti-6Al-4V) of reasonable size (4"x4" ceramic to 6"x6" metal). Demonstrate minimum 50% improvement in bond strength (shear or bending) over best epoxy joints. Plan for production and field repair. PHASE II: Demonstrate joining an array of ceramics (SiC) to a single metal (titanium alloy: Ti-6Al-4V) plate (4"x4" ceramic). Demonstrate field repair. Plan for industrial metal-ceramic bonding, including other ceramics (such as Al2O3, TiB2, B4C, and WC) and metals (steels, superalloys, etc.). PHASE III: Commericialization of this technology will allow further implementation of increased sized semiconductors, transparent materials for sensors, and ceramic material insertion into engines. These are all areas which could be later inserted back into defense systems. Commercialization of the metal-ceramic joining process. REFERENCES: 1) H. Mizuhara and K. Mally, "Ceramic-to-Metal Joining with Active Brazing Filler Metal," Welding Journal, 64 [10] pp. 27-32 (1985). 2) H. Mizuhara and E. Heubel, "Joining Ceramic to Metal with Ductile Active Filler Metal," Welding Journal, 65 [10] pp. 43-51 (1985). 3) N.D. Tinsley, J. Huddleston, and M.R. Lacey, "The Reduction of Residual Stress Generated in Metal-Ceramic Joining," Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 13 [4] pp. 491-504 (1998). KEYWORDS: ceramic, metal, joining, coefficient of thermal expansion, bond strength A02-033 TITLE: Low-Cost, Mine-Blast-Resistant Crew Seat for Interim Armored Vehicle (IAV) and Future Combat System (FCS) Ground Vehicles of the Objective Force TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Future Combat System & Interim Armored Vehicle OBJECTIVE: To develop design(s) for a low-cost, low-weight, modular crew seat for ground vehicles, which can absorb and significantly attenuate the vertical acceleration values to levels below the injury limit. Creative and innovative designs for shock resistance, material, mechanical or hydraulic damping devices and structures (like honeycomb) should all be studied. The cost, weight, system simplicity and modularity features, must be kept in mind during all phases of the study. Although intended for new vehicles, design considerations should also be given for aspects that lend themselves for application to retrofit existing vehicles with current seats. Considerable attention must be given to the short insult duration (fraction of a milli-second) and the very short dynamic shock response time (few milli-seconds) for the seated passenger. DESCRIPTION: The seat design should provide a measured vertical dynamic response of a constant acceleration of no more than 20 g's (644. ft/s2) corresponding to a peak acceleration of a half sine wave curve of 31.4 g's (1011. ft/s2) of duration no longer than 7 (seven) ms, at the seat surface (including any additional seat padding used) contacting the seat pants of the seated passenger. The corresponding vertical displacement of the passenger should be as small as possible. The vehicle floor is expected to have a vertical constant acceleration impulse of 1,840 g's over 0.32 ms (corresponding to an acceleration sine wave curve peak of 2,890 g's). The vehicle floor shall have an estimated initial vertical velocity of 10 ft/s, due to the mine explosion. The fully equipped passenger weight may be considered as 200 lb. The passenger is restraint by a four-point harness (belt) system attached to the seat frame. PHASE I: To perform studies, analyses, and design set ups, for a generic vehicle seat subjected to a vertical acceleration impulse, with the intended objective to have the belt-restrained passenger subjected to much lower acceleration values, below the injury limit given. Many possible mechanical, hydraulic, structural, material, energy absorbing and damping methods, both novel or conventional should be examined. Engineering codes and models for the shock absorption and attenuation should guide the designs. At least two designs to be submitted with their attributes of weight, acceleration-reduction effectiveness, and estimated cost. PHASE II: To produce and deliver a prototype of a complete seat arrangement selected derived from the two designs produced in Phase I. A scaled-down model should have been tested in a shock/vibration laboratory to indicate the response of a simulated passenger strapped to the seat to measure the response at the seat of the pants for the passenger. Weight and cost estimates per copy should be given. PHASE III: Considerations for large commercialization or dual use applications. Consideration for design modifications to the seat arrangement to suit retrofitting or modification of existing non shock-resistant seats in other military combat vehicles or civilian non combat vehicles which might be a target for such impulse loading (United Nations (UN) Patrol cars/vans and humanitarian relief aid trucks). Simplification or alteration of the seat design to reflect lower threat values for these cases should be considered. Knowledge gained, methodologies and devices used or developed, may be considered for improving even the regular seatings of civilian passenger cars not subjected to the high impulse loading applied in this study. REFERENCES: 1) Eiband, M., " Human Tolerance to Rapidly Applied Acceleration: A summary of the literature," NASA Memo 5-19-59E, June 1959. 2) Alem, N., and Strawn, G., "Evaluation of Energy Absorbing Truck Seat for Increased Protection from Landmine Blasts," USAARL 96-06, U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Lab., Jan. 1996. KEYWORDS: FCS, IAV, vehicle, crew, seat, landmine, blast, body acceleration, injury, survivability, impulse loading, acceleration transmission reduction A02-034 TITLE: Development of a Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Module for a Small Robotic Platform TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Sensors, Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Soldier Systems OBJECTIVE: To develop a reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) module for a small robotic platform, as part of the Objective Force, including the Future Combat System (FCS) and the Objective Force Warrior programs. The RSTA module shall be capable of conducting RSTA from a small, man-portable, (i.e., less than 50 lbs.) robotic platform. We envision a modular package that can be incorporated into a small robotic platform that uses visible, infrared, acoustic, and other sensors, along with on-board processing, to transmit an alert to a remote operator of a target of interest (i.e, human, vehicle). DESCRIPTION: Physical agents, such as robotic platforms, will be ubiquitous on the future battlefield, significantly lowering the risks to our soldiers. These robots must be able to not only collaborate amongst themselves but also with their manned partners. Their roles will range from scout missions, performing reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition, to urban warfare or urban rescue. The human/robot interaction with these agents must be highly efficient and minimally intrusive. The interaction with the robots must not encumber the soldiers. Additionally, communications between the robot and soldier must be minimized to reduce bandwidth. Therefore, an RSTA module is necessary on small robotic platforms that can sense targets of interest autonomously, and send only the required amount of information to the operator. A modular design is required to facilitate changing mission payloads of the robot and to accommodate different types of robotic platforms. The proposed RSTA module design needs to consider tradeoffs between processing capability, multiple current and future RSTA sensors, power from the host robot, and mission duration. Additionally, navigation and mobility tasks versus RSTA tasks need to be explored to optimize the overall system architecture. The physical interaction and mobility constraints with existing small robotic platforms must also be considered. It is anticipated that this module and a small robotic platform will be utilized with existing Land Warrior Systems for experimentation, therefore compatibility with the Land Warrior System and its components is required. The Land Warrior System (PM Soldier Systems) will be the primary interface the soldier has to the proposed RSTA module. To facilitate this, the host robot should provide power, wireless communications, and an interface to the robot's host computer. Additional modular sensors that are desired, but not required, in the proposed module include small chemical and/or biological sensors, small weather sensors, other types of imagers, or other sensors that could be utilized in RSTA missions by soldiers. Prospective candidates should address the following RSTA module design features: 1) proposed sensors, 2) proposed processing hardware, 3) mechanical and electrical design characteristics such as physical size, power consumption, mission duration, and interface with a small robotic platform, and 4) human to RSTA module interaction. PHASE I: Conduct engineering design phase in which all components for the RSTA module are identified. This should include the physical layout of the module and its interaction with the host small robotic platform and with the human, processing component specifications, and sensor specifications. Additionally, the power requirements, the processing capabilities, and how the module might affect other robot functions should be addressed. PHASE II: Develop and build a fully functional prototype RSTA module that is operational with a small robotic platform. PHASE III: Urban search and rescue is the most natural dual-use application for this technology. A small robotic platform outfitted with an RSTA module would be most useful in a collapsed building environment for search and rescue. Before the area is secure enough for humans, a robot that not only has visible, IR, and acoustic sensing capabilities, but also processing capabilities could see or hear victims and alert rescuers as to their location. Another application is for use by police units during sniper and hostage incidents. The small robot with an RSTA module could identify the location of a sniper in a building, or the location of hostages and their assailants. Upon completion, the prototype module and robot will undergo a test (non-destructive) and evaluation process, with Land Warrior equipped soldiers in which the functionality/utility of the RSTA module is established. REFERENCES: 1) "Robotic vehicle uses acoustic array for detection and localization in urban environments," S. Young and M. Scanlon, published in the Proceedings of SPIE, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology III, Vol. 4364, Orlando, USA, 16-17 April 2001. 2) "Battlefield Agent Collaboration," P. Budulas, S. Young, and P. Emmerman, published in the Proceedings of SPIE, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology III, Vol. 4364, Orlando, USA, 16-17 April 2001. KEYWORDS: robotics, RSTA, FCS, Objective Force Warrior, Land Warrior A02-035 TITLE: Development of a Human/Robot Control Interface TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems, Human Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Soldier Systems OBJECTIVE: To develop a human/robot interface that allows a soldier to control and task a small robotic platform, as part of the Objective Force, including the Future Combat System (FCS) and the Objective Force Warrior programs. The interface shall be capable of controlling a small robot and its functions without causing unnecessary additional weight, and without the addition of bulky add-ons to the Land Warrior Infantry Soldier System (Program Manager for Soldier Systems). We envision an interface that can uses speech, gesture, tactile gloves, or gaze to control and task a semi-autonomous robot from a Land Warrior system. Additionally, the human/robot interface must display information from the robot to the Soldier's Land Warrior system. DESCRIPTION: Physical agents, such as robotic platforms, will be ubiquitous on the battlefield of the Objective Force, significantly lowering the risks to our soldiers. These robots must be able to not only collaborate amongst themselves but also with their manned partners. Their roles will range from scout missions, to urban warfare or urban rescue, to mules (carrying the soldier's equipment). The human/robot interaction with these agents must be highly efficient and minimally intrusive. The interaction with the robots must not encumber the soldiers. Additionally, communications between the robot and soldier must be minimized to reduce bandwidth. Therefore, a human/robot control interface is necessary to control all of the functions of the robot without overburdening the soldier with extra equipment or extra tasks. A human/robot control interface is required to control the robot, which may be sent out ahead of the soldier as a scout or pointman, or may be programmed to follow behind and carry the soldier's equipment. The control of the robot may be teleoperated, programmed using waypoint designation on a map, or may be more autonomous. The human/robot control interface must allow the soldier to task the robot in any manner and perform any of its functions without additional bulky equipment, and without taking his full attention off of other mission tasks. The human/robot interface must not only provide for input to the robot from the soldier, but must also convey the information to the soldier via his heads-up display, his computer tablet, or by some other means. It is anticipated that this human/robot control interface and a small robotic platform will be utilized with existing Land Warrior systems for experimentation, therefore compatibility and integration with the Land Warrior System and its components is required. Prospective candidates should address the following human/robot control interface design features: 1) proposed input hardware and modalities, 2) proposed display integration, 3) proposed integration into existing Land Warrior hardware and software, 4) software, mechanical, and electrical design characteristics such as physical size, power consumption, mission duration, and interface with a small robotic platform. PHASE I: Conduct engineering design phase in which all components for human/robot control interface are identified. This should include the input hardware and software, its display of information from the robot, and its interaction with the host small robotic platform. PHASE II: Develop and build a fully functional prototype human/robot control interface that is operational with a Land Warrior system and a small robotic platform. Upon completion, the interface and robot will undergo a test (non-destructive) and evaluation process, with Land Warrior equipped soldiers in which the functionality/utility of the human/robot control interface is established. PHASE III: Urban search and rescue is the most natural dual-use application for this technology. A robust and reliable human/robot control interface could be used by fire and rescue personnel, police, and other agents to control small robotic platforms in collapsed building environments, sniper situations, fires, and chemical contamination environments. REFERENCES: 1) "Robotic vehicle uses acoustic array for detection and localization in urban environments," S. Young and M. Scanlon, published in the Proceedings of SPIE, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology III, Vol. 4364, Orlando, USA, 16-17 April 2001. 2) "Battlefield Agent Collaboration," P. Budulas, S. Young, and P. Emmerman, published in the Proceedings of SPIE, Unmanned Ground Vehicle Technology III, Vol. 4364, Orlando, USA, 16-17 April 2001. KEYWORDS: robotics, human machine interface, Objective Force Warrior, Land Warrior, FCS Directory: osbp -> SBIR -> solicitations solicitations -> Army sbir 09. 1 Proposal submission instructions dod small Business Innovation (sbir) Program solicitations -> Navy sbir fy09. 1 Proposal submission instructions solicitations -> Army 16. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Air force 12. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Army 14. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program submitting Proposals on Navy Topics solicitations -> Navy small business innovation research program solicitations -> Armament research, development and engineering center solicitations -> Army 17. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions solicitations -> Navy 11. 3 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions Download 1.78 Mb. Share with your friends:
|